CNN —
Retired Marine General John Kelly, who was President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, told the New York Times that the former president “fits the general definition of a fascist” and “certainly prefers a dictator’s approach to government.” ” he said.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday that Kelly was asked in a recorded interview if the former president met the definition of a fascist and responded by reading out a definition he found online.
“If we look at the definition of fascism, it is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement characterized by authoritarian leaders, centralized tyranny, militarism, and opposition. “The forced oppression of people, the belief in natural social hierarchies,” Kelly said. “Certainly, in my experience, he thinks these things will work out better in terms of running the United States.”
Kelly continued: “The former president is certainly on the far right spectrum, he is definitely an authoritarian, and he admires dictators — that’s what he says.” spoke. Therefore, he certainly falls under the general definition of a fascist. ”
Comments from a senior Trump White House official come as Trump faces Vice President Kamala Harris in a bid to return to the Oval Office four years after losing an election he falsely claimed was fraudulent. was announced two weeks before voting day.
Trump campaign communications director Stephen Chan said in a statement that Kelly “failed to serve the president adequately while serving as chief of staff and is currently in a debilitating state of Trump Derangement Syndrome. I am completely baffled by the articles exposing these lies.” ”
Kelly and other former Trump aides have repeatedly warned Trump about how he views the presidency and how he would wield power if he returned to office.
Kelly told the Times that Trump “never accepted the fact that he was not the most powerful person in the world. Power is the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want.” .
“I think he wants to be like he is when he’s in business: If you tell people to do something, they do it, and he doesn’t really care about whether it’s legal or not. I don’t care,” he said.
He also said that President Trump did not understand the Constitution or the values that the nation was founded on, and that the idea that government officials’ loyalty was to the Constitution and not to the president personally was “a new concept to him.”
Kelly noted that Trump’s comments in recent weeks at rallies and interviews have warned of the “enemy within” and hinted at the possibility of using the military against political opponents.
“I think it’s a very, very bad thing to even say that for political purposes to get elected, let alone actually do it,” Kelly said.
Kelly also told the newspaper that President Trump sometimes spoke positively about Adolf Hitler.
“He made the comment many times, ‘Hitler did good things, too,'” Kelly said.
